Use caution when removing entrance reducers

During these first warm and sunny days of spring, the bees literally climb over each other to get in and out of their tiny entrance. You’ve got the urge to remove the entire entrance reducer so they have plenty of room to move about. But be careful.

Pollen is usually in good supply before nectar and, until the nectar starts flowing, your bees are collecting mostly pollen—and craving a source of carbohydrates. If the entrance reducers are removed too soon, stronger colonies may take the opportunity to rob the weaker colonies of any honey they have left. If you see a great crowd of airborne bees in front of a weak hive, this may be what is happening.

So until nectar is plentiful, keep the entrance reducers on the weaker hives, and fully open only those you know to be strong and populous. After nectar becomes more available, the weaker colonies will expand and soon be able to defend their hives. At that point, you can enlarge their entrances or remove the reducers altogether.

Comments

I am so glad I found your website… So much valuable information. I am very new to beekeeping and need to learn so much. I have 7 hives, sorry, I HAD 7 hives. My weak swarm hive didn’t make it through the winter. Not too sure why, as there is still plenty of food supply. Should I take the full honey frames out and feed them to the other hives ???? Our pollen flow usually starts end of May.

I still have a reducer on my hive because it is weak. I installed the nuc this spring and they haven’t really grown much. I want to take off the reducer because it had reached above 90 degrees here and there are lots of bees out fanning. They are fanning in front of the entire entrance, even where the reducer is blocking their efforts. I am also afraid to take the reducer off, as they haven’t even filled one deep yet. Should I remove or not? Thank you.

I am a new beekeeper and my hive is doing good. I have the third box with a queen excluder below that and the other two boxes are full with brood and honey. I have the hive reducer on with the big opening and on the one side slightly cracked at an angle. Should I take it off completely and put on the mouse guard? I am still nervous they will leave or something will rob them.

Neither the mouse guard nor the entrance reducer will keep the bees from leaving if that’s what they want to do, so that shouldn’t be an issue. If the colony is strong and populous they probably don’t need a reducer this time of year, but it it makes you more comfortable, you can leave it in place. I usually don’t use a reducer until I see signs of a nectar dearth.

Thank u and the box I just put on has the queen excluder on it. I put it on around a week ago and there are no bees at all in this box. Should I be worried or just see what happens? I also cracked the front where the queen excluder and top box meets so there wings don’t get too worn down. Am I doing it right or should I change some things?

Ok I was hoping I could get one more box started but I always have next year, and yes I provided an opening. I put two sticks in between the box and the queen excluder on the front side. And my last question I have for u, I have a queen excluder that’s for the entrance . Use it or is it worthless?

A swarm guard (or queen excluder over the entrance) is okay for a couple of days if you are trying to prevent a swarm before you have time to split. But you can’t leave it on for more than a few days because 1) the drones can’t get in or out and 2) if for some reason your queen gets superseded, the new queen will not be able to get out and mate. So basically, it is worse than useless except in a few circumstances and for a very short time.

I started a new hive about 8 weeks ago with a few frames of brood from one of my hives and a bought queen, I had spotted the queen each time I inspected the hive, their numbers seemed to increase at a normal rate. As of today they have 2 deep 10 frame brood boxes and 1 medium honey super well drawn out when I looked in last week. Last night I got a call from my neighbor that a swarm was in their tree. I am shocked that such a young hive would have swarmed so soon! I did remove the entrance reducer last week as we are in a good nectar flow and they were struggling to get in and they are the only hive in this city area.

Search

Please Donate to Honey Bee Suite

This website is made possible by people like you. Its purpose it to discuss contemporary issues in beekeeping and bee science. It is non-discriminatory, encompassing both honey bees and wild bees. Your support matters. Thank you.

Subscribe for Free↓↓↓

My Favorite Books & Bee Supplies

Bee Wise

Bee-yond Bees

Bees are more than a hobby;
they are a life study,
in many respects a mirror
of our own society.

—William Longgood

Why Honey Bee is Two Words

Regardless of dictionaries, we have in entomology a rule for insect common names that can be followed. It says: If the insect is what the name implies, write the two words separately; otherwise run them together. Thus we have such names as house fly, blow fly, and robber fly contrasted with dragonfly, caddicefly, and butterfly, because the latter are not flies, just as an aphislion is not a lion and a silverfish is not a fish. The honey bee is an insect and is preeminently a bee; “honeybee” is equivalent to “Johnsmith.”

—From Anatomy of the Honey Bee by Robert E. Snodgrass

State Insects

The non-native European Honey Bee is the state insect of:

Arkansas

Georgia

Kansas

Louisiana

Maine

Mississippi

Missouri

Nebraska

New Jersey

North Carolina

Oklahoma

South Dakota

Tennessee

Utah

Vermont

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Not one native bee is a state insect. The closest relative of a North American native bee to make the list is the Tarantula Hawk Wasp, the state insect of New Mexico.

Update! Minnesota now has a state bee as well as a state insect. Bombus affinis, the Rusty-Patched Bumble Bee, has been so honored. Good work, Minnesota!

Where Are Your Hives?

Beekeepers are everywhere. Each time someone visits Honey Bee Suite, his or her location will appear on the map.

Page Views

17,038,382 hits

Mission Statement

Honey Bee Suite is dedicated to honey bees, beekeeping, wild bees, other pollinators, and pollination ecology. It is designed to be informative and fun, but also to remind readers that pollinators throughout the world are endangered. Although they may seem small and insignificant, pollinators are vital to anyone who eats.